The kids invited Lynne and I on a 4th of July hike (Timp Trail). I thought it would be a great last chance workout before my weighin. We started in the morning and hiked for about 4 hours. The hike is essentially up or down hill depending on your location. Great leg workout.
It is a very long hike to the top of Mount Timpanogos and Lynne and I only made it a 3rd of the way. Jimmy, Rachel and Amy went much farther up the mountain.
It has been many years since I hiked this trial so we decided to check out a conveniently posted map. We quickly realize we did have adequate time to reach the top of the mountain. I do want to hike this again when I am in better shape.
The three speedsters left Lynne and I in the dust. Up, Up and away. As they vanished into the trees we decided to take our time enjoying the beautiful trees, animals and scenery. This was a great idea as I could not walk very long without stopping.
Soon we spotted a red checkered beetle. These Clerid beetles love to eat flower pollen and were found primarily on this flower. I usually do not see many red Clerids most often they are yellow and black.
I think larvae are very interesting. This is a tiger moth larvae or possibly a tent caterpillar. I am leaning towards the tiger moth larvae.
A little farther up the trail and we reached the first and largest water fall along the trial. Lots of water was rushing over the falls and Lynne crawled up on a rock for a look.
Lynne wanted me to get wet but this is far as I went. The mist was refreshing.
About 30 minutes from the fall we saw this magnificent shot of water falls, snow, plants and rock.
Lycaenidae is a family of small sometimes beautiful iridescent butterflies. This is a common species found in this area.
This interesting flower was found about half way up the mountain. This is the first time I recall seeing this drooping beauty.
The drooping beauty develops into this wild and crazy seed head.
The young whipper snappers hiked far high enough to reach the snowline.
Jimmy and Rachel stopped for a little rest and some liquid refreshment.
These two have been playing with each other ever since they were knee high to a grasshopper. It was good to see them get together this summer before Amy joined the Navy. She is currently in boot camp. Good luck Amy!We all made it back down safe, tired and thirsty. We headed home for a little rest before we going to the Stadium of Fire that night.
Those drooping purple flowers are beautiful! I am glad you guys had a fun time hiking, the mist from the waterfall was probably welcomed with all of this Utah heat!
ReplyDeleteJessica next year you and Dan need to come.
ReplyDeleteThat looked like a lot of fun, I still cant believe that all the snow hasn't melted yet!!
ReplyDeleteRich!! It just made my day to see you have a family blog. Your pictures are so professional looking. Honestly, great shots. My girls and I have been feather collecting here in France, but they are mostly terrified of all the bugs, so I will have to ease them into collecting some of those too. We've been here just a little over a week, and there's been some culture shock that I will blog about soon. Feel free to check it out if you want: Parisianpierces.blogspot.com. There's only a few posts so far, but more coming soon. My new email is gifinadolls@yahoo.com if you need to contact me over here. I miss Lakeridge already. I'll try not to cry too hard when school starts. Give Lynn and the kids my best.
ReplyDeleteTiffany
As usual you have done it again. The picture taking and the comments are terrific Grandpa & Grandma
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